Comments on: “Met His Fate by the Rope Route”https://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/
Taking Back What Was Once LostMon, 29 Dec 2014 16:41:33 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: Marion Woodfork Simmonshttps://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/#comment-1447
Sat, 14 Jul 2012 00:16:27 +0000http://msualumni.wordpress.com/?p=1327#comment-1447Robyn an excellent post and a sad story for your family. I am always amazed and impressed with the strength of our ancestors. They had to endure so much. So many of the “problems” we complain about today pale in comparison to what they experienced on a daily basis. Yet, they found the strength to forge ahead and make things better for the next generation.
]]>By: carolyn atkinsonhttps://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/#comment-1443
Fri, 13 Jul 2012 03:14:24 +0000http://msualumni.wordpress.com/?p=1327#comment-1443My grandmother’s sister was doing genealogy back in the 70’s She found some information on it. I found the rest. I started by following the census records, and then searching for newspaper articles and books.

Another brother of my great grandmother married and had children. I am in contact with one of those descendants, and we have become friends. She is writing a book on him and I am helping. I had the pictures, and the FBI files from the FOIA program. There were even telegrams from the president and J Edgar Hoover regarding their spying on him, and using the Pinkerton agents. They “investigated” his death and “determined” it was a group of unknowns who hung him on a railroad trestle after they had dragged him behind a car tearing off his kneecaps.

They grabbed him out of his bed in the middle of the night. They called him a half breed hobo. They believed he was Native American, I have never been able to verify any of that story to date, but hobo, he probably was. He was poor, but very strong in his determination for safety for the workmen. He dedicated his life to it. We have not yet figured out what was the deciding factor in his life to lead him this way. He has been a very interesting person to research. I so admire his dedication, stubborness, and his strength in following through his ideas and beliefs. He was of German, Irish, and Scottish descent.

]]>By: Liv (@claimingkin)https://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/#comment-1442
Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:33:06 +0000http://msualumni.wordpress.com/?p=1327#comment-1442Lynching IS indeed America’s original brand of terrorism and I shudder to think that I too will eventually find an ancestor in my tree who fell victim to this brand of terrorism. Your excellent post also brings to mind a promotional book review my colleague and I had to do for the book – “Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America” – http://withoutsanctuary.org. That was one very difficult book to read, view, and review . . . and it is one book I’ll never forget!
]]>By: msualumnihttps://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/#comment-1441
Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:59:35 +0000http://msualumni.wordpress.com/?p=1327#comment-1441Carolyn, isn’t it sad when we find these things out? How did you find out about it? Yours is an interesting story because it ties into economics. Southern whites were desperate to keep their agricultural labor force. They also wanted to keep mining and other industrial jobs–as dangerous as they were–the domain of the white man.
]]>By: Stylnhttps://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/#comment-1439
Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:37:57 +0000http://msualumni.wordpress.com/?p=1327#comment-1439OMG! I am also in awe of their strength and endurance. I haven’t yet found anyone in family history who was lynched, but with the thousands of lynching/hate murders (many unreported) I’m sure it’s touched most Black famils in the US. I made a brief post about it in honor of Black History Month last year http://stylesource01.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/oh-freedom-oooooh-freedom-oooh-freedom-over-me/.

I’m so sorry that this form of terrorism touched your family and others who’s lives where cut short by racism, hate and violence.

]]>By: carolyn atkinsonhttps://msualumni.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/met-his-fate-by-the-rope-route/#comment-1438
Thu, 12 Jul 2012 06:35:15 +0000http://msualumni.wordpress.com/?p=1327#comment-1438My g grandmother’s brother was lynched by Pinkerton agents 1 Aug 1917 in Butte, Montana. He was a Wobbly and was working to get a strike up against the Anaconda Mine. He is on findagrave #36564678. Until I started researching my family, I knew nothing about it. No one in the family did. They kept quiet because they were afraid of reprisals. My g grandparents were living in a tent in Drumright Oklahoma when they fights and riots were there.
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